November 19, 2011

copics copics copics

I often get asked what I'm using to get the colors I do, like in the postcards in post below, or pages like this:

and very often, the work that people are referring to when asking the question is colored in with Copics. The truth is, I use everything I see or have exposure to, including watercolor paints, Caran d' Ache crayons, Prismacolor, Faber Castel, Pentel markers and really, any other marker or color making tool in my work play, but most often it's the Copics. To know them is to love them. I could give you lots of reasons why, but at the end of the day, mostly it's the color choices and the way the brush feels on the paper while I use it. And the end result is yummy.

If you are curious and want to know more about why they are so great, Copic has a blog, and there are tons of videos and classes online, a YouTube search would be a good starting point.

So lately, while making the posters, and wanting them to be the very best they can be, I've become obsessed with wanting every single Copic color there is. I can hear you laughing out there, those of you that use Copics and know how expensive they are! There are 346 colors available now (11 new ones added in 2011).

I haven't found any solution for lower price points than the usual...if anyone has any ideas or good sales/sources, please put it in the comments for all. Someone mentioned Overstock.com once in a class, but all I see there are the Copic Ciao markers which are different.

What I did find in my hunt was that my hand color chart was outdated, so I downloaded a new one on 2 different types of papers, as the markers look different on different papers and I was getting really anal about it all. The old chart is underneath, the two new ones on top. Although I have quite a few Copics, you can see that I'm missing many. I don't even own a third of the beautiful colors that are out there! The horror...just think of how much prettier my pages and artwork could be haha. All the color combinations I'm missing out on....

You can print your own Copic Hand Color Chart here, but be sure you print from the pdf file, or it will be too big and not print on one page. While you are over there, you will see lots of other products they have as well. I did order this filled in (see photo below)Hand Colored Chart here, so that I would know the true colors of the pens and know what pens I really do want to add, as the colors shown on screen and even on the cap lids are slightly different than on paper. At $19.99 I really had to think about it, but now that it has arrived, I'm glad I did it. It's worth it to me to see the color as it is, from out of a marker, not a print. Here's the one I received from my order:

I even ordered some nib replacements and some ink refills for my long used up pens. It was super easy to refill them, and I wouldn't waste my money on the boosters, now that I've done it. Cleaning the booster and taking out the nib seemed to make the process more complicated and messy, vs. the time saved in my opinion.

My favorite find though, in all my linking around, was the Copic swatchbook, which I ordered here. You can see the swatchbook below. It's about the size of a check register and once you fill in all the colors you have, you take it with you in your purse and when you find yourself somewhere tempted to buy new pens, you know the colors you already have. If you look closely at the first photo you will see that duplicate color purchases is a mistake I've made a few times. Just be sure you order the most recent swatchbook, with all the colors, as they are still selling the old one out there.

And that my friends, sums up my recent fall down the Copic marker rabbit hole! Hopefully the info in this post will help some of you out there, and maybe someone knows of a great Copic sale or place with better than the standard price, because I calculated it last night, after making my dream colors list, (which was not all the markers I don't have, just a partial), and it was well over $400.00. Um, ya, that's not happening. But I love them just the same. Standard retail (around $5.50 each) is a fair price for the product, don't get me wrong, it's just not a price that's in this girl's budget. Maybe when I finally get those darn posters done...ya...earn some money so I can buy some more art supplies, that'd be the right way to do it vs. buy all the art supplies so I can earn some money like I usually do. Oh art supplies, how I love them so, especially Copic markers. Off to fill in my swatchbook...have a great weekend!

Comments

I often get asked what I'm using to get the colors I do, like in the postcards in post below, or pages like this:

and very often, the work that people are referring to when asking the question is colored in with Copics. The truth is, I use everything I see or have exposure to, including watercolor paints, Caran d' Ache crayons, Prismacolor, Faber Castel, Pentel markers and really, any other marker or color making tool in my work play, but most often it's the Copics. To know them is to love them. I could give you lots of reasons why, but at the end of the day, mostly it's the color choices and the way the brush feels on the paper while I use it. And the end result is yummy.

If you are curious and want to know more about why they are so great, Copic has a blog, and there are tons of videos and classes online, a YouTube search would be a good starting point.

So lately, while making the posters, and wanting them to be the very best they can be, I've become obsessed with wanting every single Copic color there is. I can hear you laughing out there, those of you that use Copics and know how expensive they are! There are 346 colors available now (11 new ones added in 2011).

I haven't found any solution for lower price points than the usual...if anyone has any ideas or good sales/sources, please put it in the comments for all. Someone mentioned Overstock.com once in a class, but all I see there are the Copic Ciao markers which are different.

What I did find in my hunt was that my hand color chart was outdated, so I downloaded a new one on 2 different types of papers, as the markers look different on different papers and I was getting really anal about it all. The old chart is underneath, the two new ones on top. Although I have quite a few Copics, you can see that I'm missing many. I don't even own a third of the beautiful colors that are out there! The horror...just think of how much prettier my pages and artwork could be haha. All the color combinations I'm missing out on....

You can print your own Copic Hand Color Chart here, but be sure you print from the pdf file, or it will be too big and not print on one page. While you are over there, you will see lots of other products they have as well. I did order this filled in (see photo below)Hand Colored Chart here, so that I would know the true colors of the pens and know what pens I really do want to add, as the colors shown on screen and even on the cap lids are slightly different than on paper. At $19.99 I really had to think about it, but now that it has arrived, I'm glad I did it. It's worth it to me to see the color as it is, from out of a marker, not a print. Here's the one I received from my order:

I even ordered some nib replacements and some ink refills for my long used up pens. It was super easy to refill them, and I wouldn't waste my money on the boosters, now that I've done it. Cleaning the booster and taking out the nib seemed to make the process more complicated and messy, vs. the time saved in my opinion.

My favorite find though, in all my linking around, was the Copic swatchbook, which I ordered here. You can see the swatchbook below. It's about the size of a check register and once you fill in all the colors you have, you take it with you in your purse and when you find yourself somewhere tempted to buy new pens, you know the colors you already have. If you look closely at the first photo you will see that duplicate color purchases is a mistake I've made a few times. Just be sure you order the most recent swatchbook, with all the colors, as they are still selling the old one out there.

And that my friends, sums up my recent fall down the Copic marker rabbit hole! Hopefully the info in this post will help some of you out there, and maybe someone knows of a great Copic sale or place with better than the standard price, because I calculated it last night, after making my dream colors list, (which was not all the markers I don't have, just a partial), and it was well over $400.00. Um, ya, that's not happening. But I love them just the same. Standard retail (around $5.50 each) is a fair price for the product, don't get me wrong, it's just not a price that's in this girl's budget. Maybe when I finally get those darn posters done...ya...earn some money so I can buy some more art supplies, that'd be the right way to do it vs. buy all the art supplies so I can earn some money like I usually do. Oh art supplies, how I love them so, especially Copic markers. Off to fill in my swatchbook...have a great weekend!